“But it’ll be
cold out there. The storm’s coming and it might freeze to death,” I
argued.

“Huh! Freeze to death! Kimberly, it’s a husky. It’s built to stay
warm in days like this. Honey, I understand that you want a husky like
your friends, but please. You understand what your father thinks about
dogs. He’s not very fond of them at all. Now, he’s coming soon, so you
can decide what to do with him now.”

“But still… It’s not fair,” I said.

“I know, but neither your father nor I like him. Maybe you could tie
him up outside until the storm passes away. You can do whatever you want
with him out there, but I don’t know what your dad will think about
that,” said Mom, and went on cooking.

“I… I’ll… ask dad…” and I walked outside, which was like walking into
the refrigerator itself.

“Warf, Warf!” and then he groaned, tucking his head between my arms.

“Hey, Kimberly!” someone called from a distance.

“Dad’s here! Come on, you can hide here,” and I tied him up behind
the house, and ran to my dad. The husky groaned again.

“You’re here! Oh, we have to get in early and gather our stuff. We
all have to stay at Runner’s Hotel today. The storm’s gonna be big.
Nothing’s going to stay on the ground. Now, it’s just for one night, so
there won’t be too much harm to the village.”

“Dad, um… What if, there’s a dog on the road when there’s a storm
like this?” I asked.

“Ha! That’s a good one! That won’t happen, and if it does, I’d have
to take the dog!”

“Really?”

“No, do you think I would, Kimberly? I, your father, hate dogs! I’m
sorry that you like dogs when I don’t. It’s just that I have a bad
memory of a bite from a dog. Now, AH!”

There was the husky, which I had planned to name Storm, in front of
my dad’s nose.

“What is this? Who let it in here? Kimberly, it can’t be you!”
screeched Dad, and Mom walked out of the house with bags in her hands.

“I heard about the storm so I packed. Let’s eat dinner and get out.
Oh, Kimberly honey, your dad found out I guess,” said Mom.

“You knew? And didn’t tell Kimberly that I dislike dogs? Seriously, I
am very disappointed. What can we do about this? The storm’s coming,
even we have to run away with a few things in our hands. We can’t take
this,” Dad argued.

“Dad, come on. It’s a storm. Everything will be flying because of the
wind, and you expect a husky, a dog, to stay firmly on the ground and
just stay there until the storm ends? Well, it probably would because
it’d freeze. Come on, Dad. Take it with us,” I begged.

“You didn’t tell her that I disliked dogs? I do not like dogs.
Period. Now, you expect me to walk with a dog in a storm? No way. What
do you think, Mom?” Dad yelled.

“I first want you to know that I told her you don’t like dogs. Come
on, please calm down. We can’t leave this behind. You see, it’s a living
thing and your daughter likes it. So, don’t say anything else about
bringing it along,” Mom said.

“What- Oh… Fine. You can bring it. Only for one night,” said Dad
reluctantly.

“YIPEE!” I jumped with joy.

When we were walking to the hotel, we found that the wind was blowing
hard. I followed the tail of the husky, who seemed fine.

“Come on, hurry!” Dad called. Since we were walking by a road right
beside the freezing lake, it was dangerous and he wanted to get out as
fast as possible. Then, it started happening.

“Ah, Ah, AH!” I walked on the wrong foot and was slipping down to the
lake. Mom and Dad tried to grab my hand but it slipped because of their
gloves. I fell. Down. Down. And there was a splash. The water felt like
being dabbed by thousands of knives.

“Help! Help!” I screamed as I was trying to swim against the waves.
Then, from the road, the husky jumped right into the lake. Storm was
swimming strongly against the waves, and as his fur got wet he got
closer to me. I was losing my strength. My legs were too tired for
trudging now, and it was too cold. Water was between my clothes. When I
started to drown, Storm’s body held me and he swam us back to the shore.

“Kimberly! Kimberly!” Mom and Dad called.

“Hey……” I whispered.

“Say thank you to your dog. He rescued you!” said Mom.

“Thanks,” I coughed.

“Well, I do hope Dad has changed his mind,” said Mom.

“Are you kidding? This thing saved Kimberly’s life! From now on, the
dog is a part of our family.”

“THANKS!” I yelled, despite the cold, I shivered slightly.

“The dog earned it,” he said, and patted the dog on the head
nervously. Storm licked it.

“Wonderful. I’ll put on more clothes. Now, let’s go to the hotel.
Dogs are allowed there, right? So I’ll wash him first and give him some
leftovers from my dinner and I’ll share my bed. I’ll buy an extra pillow
for him, too. And I can put a bowl of water and food beside the bed, so
he can take a sip, and, and……”

“Kimberly, calm down, ‘cause it will be harder than you think,” said
Mom.